Paddon wins ARC thriller
Kiwi Pair Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have taken out Round 2 of the Australian Rally Championship, adding an ARC victory to their impressive international resume.
The famous NZ pair have tasted World Rally Championship glory together, two European titles and, a healthy score of national championship across the ditch; but now they can add the WA Forest Rally to an incredible legacy.
Paddon narrowly took out both Heats in WA in his Hyundai Rally 2 machine, winning over Round 1 victors and title leaders Harry Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor.
Whilst Paddon looked the goods in Round 1 in Canberra, a meeting with a kangaroo ended that push, but there was no such WA wildlife to prevent him taking a thrilling +5.4 second win in Sunday’s Heat 2 to seal it on the final Power Stage.
It was an overall strong weekend for international crews with Swede pairing Tom Kristensson and Andreas Johansson also rounding out the podium in their one-off ARC debut.
For Paddon, things were tight all weekend, with a see-sawing Heat 1 seeing some luck fall their way.
“I am loving the battle right now. I had to push right down to the last stage – both yesterday with Scott (Pedder), and today with Harry (Bates) and we love that part of the rally and are enjoying that aspect.
“When you’ve got to fight for a win, it is always a bit more satisfying. Similar to the feeling we had doing the European Championship where we had to be pushed on every stage.
“As for this afternoon, it was just a different rally for us. The car worked in these conditions, which made it easy to push.”
AN EPIC BATTLE FOR THE HEATS
More than 35 crews took to the WA Forest for an enthralling Heat 1, with Paddon taking it by 12 seconds over former champion Scott Peddar alongside co-driver Glenn Macneall.
Whilst Kristensson turned heads with Stage 1 win on debut, Pedder then shot to the lead over the Swede and Bates.
Whilst Bates then suffered sensor issues early in his Toyota, he then took a one-minute and 20-second penalty for arriving late to a stage to effectively rule out of the challenge for the day.
Paddon then led after the third stage, before Pedder wrestled the lead back by the mid-day service. The Kiwi then responded with double stage wins to seal the deal for the opening day, whilst a puncture to Kristensson and a crash from local Alex Rullo also saw them drop from contention.
Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly steered their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 6 to the Production Cup lead for sixth overall, whilst remarkably, the carnage for the Rally 2s also saw ARC 2WD Classic Cup Heat 1 Winners Nick Box and Caleb Ash in ninth.
Another ARC debutant to enjoy a memorable day was Australian superstar and two-time Dakar winner Toby Price and co-driver Holli Kilbride, finishing 12th overall and top in the Subaru WRX Challenge class.
Pedder then suffered an off early in Heat 2 to rule him out of contention, whilst Kristensson repeated his Saturday heroics with another early stage win, whilst Bates hit the lead at the mid-day service with a great comeback from Saturday.
But Paddon would respond on the penultimate stage before sealing the victory on the Power Stage with a +2.9 advantage.
And whilst Hoy took out the Production battle, Box would take the Classic Cup in his Nissan Silvia C2, whilst Timothy Hiles and Noah Humble took the 4WD Cup victory in his Subaru Legacy.
And with both Heat wins, Price took the Subaru WRX Challenge comfortably on debut. And finally, it was Garry Mills and Shaun McMaken in the ARC 2WD Cup, whilst young gun Jackson Long continues to impress alongside his father Damien with the ARC Junior Cup victory.
Next up is the Rally Queensland in Ipswich on 4-6 July for Round 3, as one of the most entertaining seasons in recent ARC memory continues to roll through the states.
Harry Bates/Coral Taylor lead, but Australian Rally Championship points are still yet to be updated.
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